IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095389/
Starring: James Spader, Cynthia Gibb and one of favorite character actors: Robert Picardo
Review in a nutshell: I can’t believe I had never seen this movie before! If I had seen this as a teenager I would have called it a classic of western cinema. Now it was just “pretty good” for yet another 80’s movie about Jack the Ripper. James Spader is adorable in both of his roles. (He plays twins.) The writing wasn’t very original but it wasn’t bad either. Mediocre acting for the most part.
I’ve already mentioned that Spader plays twins. Well I missed that when reading the summary, so when he spends the beginning of the movie doing his Daniel Jackson performance as brother 1, I thought that character would be our hero. So I was pretty shocked and confused when that character died a horrible death and suddenly James Spader as brother #2 woke up from a nightmare. I hate “it was all a dream sequence” BS. But that was just how they decided to introduce James Spader as bad boy to the movie. So I spent the next few minutes wondering how the hell that was going to work. Then someone said brother and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Where I found it: Netflix
How much I paid for it: Nada / 97 minutes of my life
Points of interest: They imply that Jack the Ripper sexually assaulted his victims, which I don’t believe was the case. But it was the late 80’s and practicing safe sex was still a shocking and new concept to some people, so I think this might have been added in to add to the shock value of the new Jack’s crimes.
The Money Shot: There are several ball shots in the last big fight scene. It seems like no one EVER takes those opportunities in movies. (I only notice because my husband has a tendency to yell “ BALLS! KICK HIM IN THE BALLS!” whenever the hero misses a beautiful opportunity to do so.) But this movie did not disappoint.
I love bad movies. LOVE them. I have several definitions of bad, but it all comes down to “bad on purpose” and “bad by accident”.
I will watch it if:
it can be described as science fiction, fantasy, or horror (Sometimes I will watch action comedy but these are less likely.)
it is described as a mystery or thriller and a serial killer is mentioned in the description.
it has less than three stars on Netflix
the cast includes Ron Perlman, Rutger Hauer, Henry Rollins, Bill Mosely, Bruce Campbell, Clancy Brown or Malcolm McDowell
Lovecraft, Cthulu or Dragons are mentioned in the title, tag line or box art.
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